Friday Practice Report
British GP
The F1 circus arrived at Silverstone for the first day of free practice for Sunday's British GP amid dramatic controversy. Last year it was the turn of FOM and the FIA to overshadow the event by announcing that the race was to move to Donington Park from 2010 but yesterday it was the F1 teams association FOTA whose dramatic statement that it was to set up a breakaway series from 2010 that caused major ripples throughout the sport. Time will tell whether FOTA has the determination to carry this through and for sure it will be a very rocky ride. Back to the action though on the first day of free practice and it was the Red Bull duo of Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber that dominated the proceedings ending the day at the top of the timesheets and looking very strong indeed. Force India's Adrian Sutil was a surprise third fastest at the team's local circuit, a great performance sure to boost confidence at the Silverstone based squad. Williams' Kazuki Nakajima was fourth fastest, for once getting the better of his team mate and Friday expert Nico Rosberg who on this occasion had to settle for ninth place. Fernando Alonso ended the day in a healthy 5th place for Renault with ever under pressure team mate Nelson Piquet closing out the top ten. Rubens Barrichello was the highest place Brawn driver in the final session with Jenson Button down in fourteenth, a situation not expected to continue into the final free practice and qualifying. Lewis Hamilton had a tough day at his home GP but put in a typically gutsy effort to finish 7th fastest and Jarno Trulli took the final top ten place at eighth fastest for Toyota. Disappointingly for Ferrari Felipe Massa and Kimi Raikkonen ended the day at the bottom of the timesheets way down in eighteenth and nineteenth positions. BMW also struggled with neither Heidfeld or Kubica making the top ten and having to settle for eleventh and fifteenth best times.
